The Arizona sentinel., 1887-07-09

interpretation of the term; that 1t Is merely ire-wood and useful and sAia- ble ouIy for hat purpose, al hough t may be possible 10 make small articles out of the wood Gas curiosities) but nothing of practical use or value, on- ing to its brittleness a d lack O fibre and size. Mesquite will not produce :. log of more than two @ or three G, feet in length; at this height the gnafl ed aud g.unted trunk spreads i.te dwarfed and scraggy branches, and k usually de ,ayed in both trunk and branch.
 That mesEuite trees grow upon land whieh will not, without artificial ili gation, produce spear of grass, or any other vegetation, except crease irusil', sage-brush, palo verde, another scrub tree, and cactus, and is q clear proof of the desert character of the land, rathrr than an argument against sucH character.
 That mesquite trees grow npon high sandy knolls, which will not even pro duce grease brush or sage-hrush, and which would be valueless even If water was carried thereon, artiiicially.
 That large bodies of land within this Territory, bearing mesquite trees in much larger number than four (4j to the acre, are, by the entire absence of a natural water supply, without , artificial irrigation, desert land. That to withdraw land of this char. qcter from entry under the Deseri Land Act, will causa great loss tc
 bona fide settlers, and will seriously cheek immigration, the formation Oi
 new holdings, and thr employment oi capital in clearing, ditchjng and recla , ,n,tion of such haul, and without irri 5ation they are absolutely worthless ! Tat the current price of mesquite I wood will give little or no margin oi
 profit over the expense of cutting ana , hauling to market, consequently
 offers DO temptation whatever, to tn
 mere specuIator in wood, and IS no f. lone except as tn, first necessary steI ] toward the reclamation cf cf the land.
 That complaints against parties fol i, cutting this wood off the government land are generally ignored by th' F grand juries on account of the trihins
 ;haraeter of the injury. if. indeed, i
 should not rather be considered ben cit, and ar enhancement of value. That already, tan ".iliinns ot dol : lars have been expended in construct ins ditches, and clearing and reclaim
 ing land in the Salt River valley alone and it will require as much more capi : ,al to thoroughly reclaim the land ir this and adjacent valleys, from its lesert condition; iar5e amount of th'
 land thus reclaimed does in it's natural state produce mesquite, and we aver that not one acre of it at all, will pro
 iace an agricultural crop, without ir
 "igation.
 We declare this matter to be of VI.
 tai importance to the present settler, within thIs Territory, who are spend
 ing their money, employing their en- ergy in the reclamation of this land, aud their influence in inducing new corners to locate.
 And it seems proper for us to r. speetfully, but earnestly remonstrat, against any action of the Commission
 1T, which shall nullifY the efforts of a
 people who lre content to endure tn.
 nardships of frontier life, for tn
 purpose of building up new state fo'
 the Federal Uuisn.
 We therefore, ask the Hon. Tn Secretary of the Interior 10 rule, tha land bearing mesquite IS no: timbe' land, within the meaning of Sectior. II, of the Des, Tt Land Act, and is sdhject to entry under said act.